Transcending Time
by Puck's Favourite Girl
Summary: We re not stupid Sokka, we know that you try harder than the rest of us. We know how you stay up at night and how you re there, always there, to save the day.We re not stupid!


Sokka stared at the long box in his hand. It was wrapped rather messily in silvery paper and tied with air nomad's arrow blue. The knot was pretty badly tied and he was pretty sure that it was unraveling at the right side but he didn't say anything. How could he? Aang was staring at him with those goddamn big round foggy eyes and he was smiling like the crescent moon. The poor kid was probably gonna crack his face open if he kept that up. "Uhhh thanks Aang. But um….what's the occasion? Did I forget my own birthday or something?" Sokka scratched his head in thought and his nose scrunched up at the effort.

Aang giggled cutely, "No silly, it's a thank-you gift." The young air-bender crossed his arms behind his back and grinned as if that explained everything.

"A thank you gift?" confusion underlined the gratitude in his question.

"Yup! I knew you planned for us to stop by the market today so I made sure to save up my coins from the last allowance you gave us."

Sokka was shell-shocked. King Boomi had given them a lot of money after that little fiasco over at his city and after that, every city they saved offered them a lot of currency in exchange for the Avatar's help. Sokka was usually the one in charge of the finances and would always keep the majority of it for food and supplies but would always give little amounts as "allowance" to the rest of the group for them to spend on a few little things they set their eye on. Knowing that Aang saved up all the money he had meant a lot. They didn't have much, so that meant that Aang had to have known what he wanted and how much it was gonna cost. He had put a lot of thought into this gift and a lot of sacrifice. Breathing in, Sokka made a promise to himself that even if when he opened the horribly wrapped gift and found a frilly pink dress he would damn well suck it up and pretend he loved it. After all, it was the least he could do.

"Wow Aang, I don't know what to say." And that was the truth.

Patting him on the back Aang just walked away chuckling to himself, "You're welcome Sokka!" He swore he could still here the boyish Avatar's laughter in the wind.

Looking down at the package Sokka carefully unwrapped it. The fading sunlight glinted off the shiny metal of the thin and short double sided blade. Water Tribe symbols adorned the hilt and the murky blue gems glittered in the light. Azure eyes widened at the detailed beauty of the dagger. A puff of air escaped his surprised lips and he held the blade at eye height. Beautiful. That's what it was, it was beautiful. A dagger, Aang had bought him a dagger…one to replace the one he lost during a raid by the Fire Nation army.

FLASHBACK

_It was dark out, owls hooting at each other, telling the other animals nearby to back off their land. Stars glittered like little lights on the water and the ripples in the river created a soft rhythm that set the eldest of the Gaang to sleep. Nevertheless, the peace was disturbed by the rambunctious yells by the army heading their way. "Wake up Sokka! Fire Nation!" Katara's screams woke him up and set him flying for his trusty boomerang. _

_Suddenly, a fire soldier erupted in his view and threw him against an old, gnarled tree. "Sokka!" he could hear Aang's scream somewhere far off in the distance._

_Groaning, the warrior clutched at his head and wiped off the blood dripping down his neck. Dammit. He had let his guard down. A whoosh of air brought him back to reality as he saw Aang being cornered by five soldiers. Quivering in fear, he tried to blast them away, but he tripped on an invisible tree root and only managed to knock out four of them. The fifth one grinned sadistically and brought his arms back in a fire attack. Narrowing his eyes in outrage Sokka didn't even think. All he knew was that someone was trying to hurt one of his own and there was no way in hell he would __**ever **__let that happen. "Hahhh!" he yelled as he tossed his only dagger into the soldier's back. _

_Dropping to the floor in a twitching sack of uselessness, the soldier's eyes quickly rolled back and let out one last breath. "Sokka." Aang whimpered._

_Smiling down at the scared boy, Sokka held out his hand. "It's okay Aang, you're fine."_

_It turned out Aang had twisted his ankle as he fell and couldn't get up without extreme pain. Thankfully, Katara managed to patch him up so it was alright, but Sokka never did get that dagger back and he always missed the extra weight in his right boot. _

END FLASHBACK

Sokka smiled then, so Aang felt bad about losing his dagger. Well that would explain the gift, but it wouldn't explain the note that had been quickly scribbled and put next to the amazing gift.

_**Thank you Sokka, for always being the one to lead the way**_

"Aang! Aang!" After an hour of searching, Sokka finally found the avatar, sitting alone on a rock staring out at the green landscape dotted with pink and orange.

"What's up Sokka?"

"I…I wanted to say thanks, you know, for the dagger. It's amazing."

Aang turned to face him then, his face a mask of seriousness. "You don't need to thank me Sokka; it's you who needs a really big thank you."

"Aang, what are you talking about?"

"Don't talk to me like I don't know Sokka. I know that after we sleep you count our money and check our supplies, you check up on Appa and make sure he's all set for the next day. I know that you plan our whole day and even the whole week sometimes and always make sure everything's all set. I know that you check our course and we all know that you're the one who leads us everywhere we go. You're not a bender, so you have to work extra hard to fight the Fire Nation armies and yet you're always there…always. You protect us, Katara and me. You make sure we're safe. We wouldn't be anywhere without you Sokka and I know that sometimes you feel like we don't know that. But I know how much you work to make this all work. You buy the maps and study them; you come up with all our schemes and plans, without you we're just a bunch of incapable benders who have a dream but no way to carry it out. You do everything for us and half the time we don't even know. So don't thank me Sokka."

"It's my job Aang. I'm the oldest, so it's my job to protect you."

"I know, that's why I got you the dagger, I know you lost the other one during that fight. You saved my life that time."

Sokka grinned, "Hey now, don't sound so surprised."

Aang smirked, "Well you know, I did save you more than you saved me."

Sokka's face twisted in mock anger, "What? If it wasn't for your crazy ideas I wouldn't need saving!" blue met grey and they both burst into laughter.

Grabbing Aang into a hug, Sokka pointed at the darkened horizon beyond them. "See that Aang? That's infinite." Both boys didn't really know what that meant, but somehow, they both still did. Infinite is more than forever, it transcends time and space. Infinite is the soul. Infinite is the courage that Sokka shows to protect those who are his family. Infinite is the size of Aang's heart and love. Infinite is them being brothers. Infinite is beyond forever, it transcends time and space. Infinite is three souls tied together by fate and scars.


End file.
